Fly Free, Hedwig
by Breazy7
Summary: This story was more for my own need to rewrite this little part of Harry Potter 7, but I thought I would share it with the rest of you anyway. Hedwig dying really got to me and I felt it had to be changed! So here it is. Enjoy! It's a bit short, I know.


Fly Free, Hedwig!:

What Really Should Have Happened That Night While Fleeing Number 4 Privet Drive and the Death Eaters

Everyone had gathered out in the backyard of Number 4 Privet Drive that warm July evening. Harry looked around at the six other Harrys and shook his head again, still having a hard time taking in the absurdity of the situation. Mad-Eye caught his eye and gave him a stern look which brought his attention quickly to Hagrid astride the motorbike. Very quickly, Harry, the real Harry, marched over to the sidecar and settled himself rather uncomfortably into it, positioning Hedwig's cage and his rucksack between his knees on the floor. He struggled for a moment with finding a good angle for his Firebolt, but finally managed it. Looking around, he saw everyone else in position.

"Ready then?" demanded Moody of them all.

There were several nods and a few muffled "yeses" from the crowd.

"Right then. Most important thing to remember here tonight is protect Harry by whatever means necessary." He paused for a moment in thought. "Oh, and do try to stay alive."

The next second, the Guard and the 7 Harry Potters were up into the sky. They flew steadily north and all seemed quiet, until…

In the blink of an eye, the group was completely surrounded by fuzzy dark masses; glints of silver just visible beneath their hoods: the Death Eaters had arrived. They had known when Harry was to be moved to a safe house.

Harry felt a thrill of panic as he drew out his wand, preparing himself for battle. Before he fully realized what was going on, curses were flying everywhere around the guard.

"Hold tigh' there, Harry!" cried Hagrid over the rush of the wind and exploding curses and hexes all around them.

A flash of green light went whizzing over Harry's head and Hagrid rolled the bike over into a quick dive. Harry lost his grip on his belongings: his rucksack, his Firebolt, and most importantly, Hedwig's cage. The three items started to topple towards the earth as Hedwig gave an indignant screech at her owner. Harry's gripped his wand in his palm and his fingers flew out to catch the top of Hedwig's cage and the hoop at the top of his rucksack: the Firebolt continued to plummet towards the ground and was lost in the growing darkness as they flew out of the range the city lights would reach.

As Harry hoisted his rucksack back up quickly and threw it onto the floor of the sidecar has Hagrid leveled out the motorbike and yelled, "Sorry 'bout tha'!", Harry hoisted Hedwig's cage back up over the side of the sidecar, and just in the nick of time too, as jet of green light soared beneath her cage where the snowy owl had just been a second before. Mortified about what could have just happened Harry abandoned all other thought, but that of trying to get Hedwig out of here safely: the one innocent member in all of this mess.

Thinking fast, Harry crouched down just below the rim of the sidecar and took Hedwig out of her cage. The poor owl was clearly shaken up about what had just happened and looked up at Harry with her great amber eyes, full of love and worry for him.

"Don't worry, Hedwig. It'll be alright. You just have to get yourself out of here; now. We can meet up later; at the Burrow perhaps. I just can't have you with me right now and risk you getting hurt…" Harry choked on the last two words, "… or worse." They shared a moment as they looked into each other's eyes and Harry knew that she understood him perfectly. Those great amber eyes that he had come to known so well over the last 6 years made everything else going on around him fade away for an instant. "Now, when I throw you up, you fly straight away into the thicket of the trees. Hide yourself amongst the branches. This spell will only last for so long. Understand?"

Hedwig have a soft hoot in response and Harry prepared himself.

"_Protego!_" he murmured, while pointing his wand tip at her chest. A shimmer was visible just around her body as the protective spell took its place. Harry glanced around him for a clear opportunity and saw it almost immediately. "Go!" he breathed at her as he threw her up into the sky.

Her snowy white plumage must have shinned like a beacon to the Death Eaters closest to the motorbike, however, because Harry heard one of them shout "_Stupefy!"_ while the other shouted "_Avada kadavra!"_ almost at the same moment. However, the jet of green light that was the killing curse just grazed the protective shell around the owl, while the jet of red light smoothly bounced off of it. Hedwig, heeding Harry's words, immediately took off towards the thick trees of the forest to their left and flew out of sight into the darkness.

The Death Eaters, realizing that it had been an innocent owl that had spooked them now turned their full attention back towards the Harry that they knew to be the true one. And Harry obliged, throwing a disarming spell at one of them and missing by just an inch. His head was now clear to focus on the fight at hand, because he knew that Hedwig was safely hidden away and they would no doubt find each other again very soon.


End file.
